Kurush

Kurush

stew in a tomato based broth

This is a hearty dish that is easy to make. It is unlike any other stew in that it has a tomato based broth rather than a gravy. It is served over a bed of Assyrian style rice. Assyrian's boil there rice until it is almost done (still a little hard in the middle) then bake it in a covered roaster with butter in an oven until it is tender and flaky.

In a 4-quart stew pot brown beef with onions and paprika. Cook until the juice from the meat and onions boils away. Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, green beans, green peppers, celery, and mushrooms. Stir and bring to boil. Let boil 10 minutes then reduce heat and simmer covered for at least 2-3 hours stirring occasionally. After an hour, salt to taste. The longer you cook this the better it gets.

Optional:For extra flavor you can cook a whole hot banana pepper in the stew after boiling. But be careful, DO NOT PUNCTURE THE PEPPER IN THE STEW!!!!

Preparing the Assyrian style rice:This is a tedious way to make rice, but when done correctly it is worth the trouble. You can always serve the stew over your favorite rice. But it won't be the same as Assyrian rice.

Wash your rice thoroughly in a strainer. Boil about 3 cups of rice in appropriate amount of water (enough to cover by about 1 inch). While rice is boiling, melt 1 stick of butter in a roaster in a 375 degree oven (be careful not to brown the butter). Check rice by biting between teeth, when rice is soft on the outside but still a little firm in the middle (about 7/8 cooked), drain and rinse wi
th cold water. Remove roaster from oven and put rice over melted butter, cover and put in oven. After 20 minutes take the roaster out of the oven and shake it to distribute the butter over the rice. Put back in oven for another 20 minutes or until done.